Marcus Raven, who will help push a wheelchair all the way to Paris

A WEEKEND in Paris sounds like a relaxing proposition – but not if the wheels you have used to get there are just 10 centimetres high and need to turn over 17 million times to take you to see the French capital.

That is the challenge facing Finsbury Park skater Marcus Raven, who is preparing for a unique trip of a lifetime – pushing a wheelchair all the way to the 2024 Olympic Games using a pair of roller skates.

Marcus is a member of the London Skate team, who are collaborating with charity Wheels and Wheelchairs, and are ­taking six wheelchair users under their own steam to witness the Paralympics this summer.

Marcus first put on a pair of roller skates as a child. Growing up in Kentish Town, he quickly graduated from strap-on four wheelers to in-line skates – and joined Street Hockey side, the Talacre Titans. Later, he employed his skating skills as a roller skating delivery man for Ed’s Easy Diner in the West End.

In 2000, Marcus joined London Skate – a group of enthusiasts inspired by a similar event in Paris that would see thousands of keen rollers take to the streets on Friday evenings.

Now a group of around 40 skaters will push specially modified wheelchairs on the 200-mile trip – speeding from Hove in Sussex along to Newhaven, where an overnight ferry will take the team to Dieppe. From there, it is a journey of nearly 150 miles to Paris.

The Wheels for Wheelchairs scheme began in 2012, when Paris skaters contacted Marcus and his friends via the London Skate group.

He said: “We were approached by a group called Mobile en Ville. They were skating from Paris to London aiming to arrive at the start of the Paralympic Games and asking for support.

“It was incredible and it drove us to set up a London version, Wheels and Wheelchairs, which is now a charity in its own right.”

Marcus and friends met the group in Crawley and skated with them through London to Hyde Park, and then on to the Olympic Park in Stratford for the opening day.

From there, the idea snowballed.

Wheels and Wheelchairs now hold regular meetings in Battersea Park, where they cover five miles on Saturday mornings with wheelchair users setting the pace for skaters pushing them.

Marcus said: “We go out together to enjoy the sensory rush of speed and accessible sport. This is a great way for beginners to get to know the sport.”

One member of the team is Dr Muhayman Jamil, a neurologist who has specialised in palliative care. He recruited the London Skate team to take people out from St Joseph’s Hospice in east London for skating sessions in Victoria Park – and the pleasure wrought from these sessions encouraged Wheels And Wheelchairs to expand their work.

The charity is headed by speed enthusiast Isaac Harvey MBE, a wheelchair user born with a disability called limb pelvic hypoplasia and scoliosis, which means he has no arms and short legs.

Marcus added: “Now, 12 years on, we have the opportunity to return the compliment and skate to Paris with our wheelchair users aiming to arrive at the beginning of the 2024 Paralympics.”

Using larger wheels that are around 10 centimetres in diameter, the inline skates will take a battering en route – as will the skaters’ legs.

Marcus said: “Wheels have got bigger over the years. The larger the wheel, the smoother and faster the journey.

“Old-school roller skates had wheels that were just 62 millimetres in diameter and that made for a bumpy ride. We have found a route that takes in a disused railway line, which we hope will be smooth – and free of traffic.”

• To support Wheels and Wheelchairs, go to www.wheelsandwheelchairs.co.uk/ and www.londonskate.com